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And for a multi touch device that's got to be a problem...

And for a multi touch device that's got to be a problem... "


Despite what Apple state, multi-touch doesn't make the device more usable.
It might make some specific jobs more intuitive, but if you can't use the device for your primary role (be it taking notes in lectures, reading eBooks on the train or drawing art work) then being able to use 2 fingures instead of one - or even two hands - doesn't magically fix the other short comings.
You're still going to need a stylus, hardware keyboard, etc.

Besides, it's not as if other multi-touch devices don't exist.

Edited 2010-01-29 00:54 UTC

You're right in that it does much less and costs much more than a standard netbook. Yet there may be a market for such a between-products (halfway between a fancy cell phone and a netboot).

Just have to wait and see. Some "between" or combo products have failed, while others have been amazingly successful.

The ones that have been successful were because there was a gap in the market.

This device isn't plugging a gap in the market though. The individual markets already exist. It's trying to invent a new product category by merging several existing markets into one device.

While normally I'm all for consolidating hardware into one gadget - I also don't want to lose usability too. And this device feels like a long list of compromises in order to own one flashier gadget.

And that's the crux of the matter.
The iPhone and iPod weren't a compromise. Granted, for a few years the iPhone lacked many features most other phones long had, like copy and paste and MMS. But the iPhone also did much much more.

- A Dual Core 1 GHz ARM is about 2x faster than a 1.66 GHz atom

- It can't run OSX apps, but those aren't really meant to work well on netbooks either (netbooks have even lower res screen and are much slower). It is less capable, but netbooks don't really run "real" apps like photoshop or visual studio or heavy games well. The iPad can run apps for most things most people do better than any ($300-$1200) netbook (i.e. reading websites, with easy zoom and changing of orientation for the small screen, or going though tons of photos or emails with a multi touch screen instead of an unusable mini trackpad)

- It doesn't fit in your pocket, but its small enough to hold without feeling that you're lugging a laptop in your palm

- The device is a portable computer/media device, with a eBook feature. Would you want to watch videos or look at photos on a kindle screen?

- There are 'pens' for multitouch screens available if you like to write by hand, and handwriting apps will appear soon. Good touch screen keyboards are not bad as they may seem. The keys in the iPad are reasonable size (same size as netbook keyboards) and you can use the keyboard attachment if you want a full size keyboard. You will need an attachment if you want a full size keyboard on a netbook too.

Do Kindles excite you enough to make you even think about them? Over $250 for a single purpose book reader when even an iPod that costs less can do much more? The iPad isn't perfect but it's the most desirable tablet ever made so far.

What about other tablet/slate PCs though?
As this device is competing with them too.



I think you've been looking at the bottem end of the market too much.
There's plenty of devices out there that can easily output 1024x768 and has the same screen size.

If you venture out of the "netbook" classification a moment but continue to look at simular devices then you'd see there's even more to choose from with devices as powerful as laptops but at the same dimensions (or marginally bigger) as netbooks.


Tablet and Slate PCs do though.
And there is a whole golf of applications between photoshop and whatever social networking frontends are popular on the iPhone.

One of my closest mates does ALL of his web development on his netbook.

My missus uses hers to write up lesson plans for the classes she teaches (if she tried to do that on a touch screen she'd quickly throw the device out of the window!)


again, at a much higher price and again, your vastly under estimating what many people DO do on their netbooks.


So where are you going to put it when you're not holding it?
In a bag? Oh well, you may as well have taken a proper fully functional (albeit compact) PC then.


You can read eBooks on netbooks and tablets/slates if you wanted to.
Most people don't though because backlit screens are a PITA compared to eInk or real printed media.



touch screen keyboards are TERRIBLE. They're not even a close approximation to a hardware keyboard.
No matter how big you make the graphics, it's still not tactile. And that will always be their fundamental downfall.
Software keyboards are also a good way to induce RSI or other typing injuries as there's no cushion for your finger tips


The sole reason I didn't buy an iPhone was because I just couldn't get to grips with it's keyboard.

I don't look at the keyboard as I type normally, so why should I have to on my mobile devices just because Apple have an inherent disliking of buttons?


Extra stuff to carry around. I've already addressed this point and why it's impractical.


It's not the size that matters - it's the fact that it's tactile.
You can feel your way around the keys and instantly know when you've missed a button or can feel where your hands are on the keys (as in which letter) without having to look down every 5 seconds.


I don't read much - so personally no. But I'm not Kindles target audience either.


You're forgetting about the Android eBook readers


Desirable if you take form over function. Personally I don't. Personally I was hoping for something special but this isn't it.

Personally, I think the tablet market is still wide open.

-That keyboard definitely sucks. It is absolute insanity to expect essays or even a medium sized email to be typed up on this thing. It isn't about the size but about the more direct feedback you get from pressing keys and not to mention the shock absorption that comes from pressing buttons.

-There are no apps and no methods to deal with direct input from a pen (specifically designed for it or no).
So some enterprising developer comes along and says yup I have a pen based handwriting solution but i need to sell the pen and install drivers....wait not gonna happen because apple will probably deny it in the app store, let alone trying to install it by other means.

Managing documents is a no go as this device needs to b-e synced (no file manager here).

-It is too expensive to be used in education, which requires much more flexibility in a device...for starters the ability to install educational software.

-What the device does do well is play and view APPLE'S MEDIA because I can't see apple allowing any old format to work with this thing.
For audio it isn't that big a deal due to the ubiquity of mp3, ease and speed of transcoding etc. But for video it is plain silly as video takes too long to transcode and the market is too fractured under competing implementations e.g. hulu,itunes netflix and not to mention divx etc.